7 Low Cost Side-Business Ideas
Grow a Business & Create a Life You Love
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7 Low-Cost Business Ideas You Can Start From Home
Are you looking for a new business idea but not sure where to start? Don't worry! We've got you covered with seven low-cost business ideas you can start right from your home. These ideas don't need a lot of money or fancy tools to get going.
1. Voiceover Artist
Do you have a great voice? People need voiceover artists for all sorts of things like podcasts, commercials, and videos. You can start by:
- Using websites like Fiverr and Upwork to find work
- Making your own website to show off your skills
- Using a computer, microphone, and recording software to get started
2. Graphic Design
If you're creative and like making things look good, graphic design might be for you. You can design:
- Logos
- Flyers
- Business cards
- Website layouts
- And much more!
You'll need a computer and design software like Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. Don't worry if you're new to this - there are lots of online classes to help you learn.
3. Transcription Services
Many people need help turning their audio or video into written words. This is called transcription. If you're good at typing and listening, this could be perfect for you. You'll need:
- A computer
- Word processing software
- Good typing skills
4. Coaching
Are you good at helping people reach their goals? Coaching might be for you! You can help people with things like:
- Business
- Life skills
- Health and fitness
To start, you just need a computer and a way to talk with clients online, like Zoom.
5. Blog Writing
If you love writing, this one's for you! Many businesses need people to write blog posts for their websites. You'll need:
- A computer
- Word processing software
- Good writing and grammar skills
6. Podcast Editing
Lots of people make podcasts, but not everyone has time to edit them. If you're good with audio, you could help by:
- Removing mistakes
- Adding music
- Making the podcast sound great
You'll need a computer and audio editing software like Audacity or GarageBand.
7. Online Tutoring
With more kids learning from home, online tutoring is in high demand. If you're good at a subject like math, English, or science, you could help students learn. You'll need:
- A computer or tablet
- A way to video chat, like Zoom
- Knowledge of the subject you want to teach
## Bonus Ideas: Website Development and Photography
If you like working with computers, learning to make websites could be a great business. Or, if you have a good eye for pictures, photography is always in demand for things like weddings and family photos.
Remember, the key to your success is you! Pick an idea that sounds fun to you and start learning more about it. With some hard work and dedication, you could turn one of these ideas into a successful business.
Podcast Transcript for 7 Low Cost Side-Business Ideas
Are you looking for a new business idea? Maybe you've had a few, but you're not sure what you should land on or what you should explore. Maybe you need somebody just to give you an idea that you can move forward with. Well, if that's you, today's episode is perfect. So stay tuned.
All right, is everybody in their place? Good. Class is about to begin. Welcome to Side Business School, the podcast that's dedicated to helping busy people just like you start and grow a meaningful and profitable side business. All right, class, let's get started.
Hey, thanks for joining me again on this episode of Side Business School. I hope that you are doing well. As you may know, I'm located here in Northern Indiana, and we have had some warm weather where we've celebrated 70 degrees, and then we saw snow. Everything was covered with snow again. But it's not going to last long. I'm not sure what the weather is like where you are, but I trust that you enjoy it. Take the time to observe it and just find a way to enjoy it, relax, and take it in.
1:28
I love the different seasons that we have in life. Today, we have an exciting episode. We're going to talk about business ideas. I'm going to actually discuss seven low-cost business ideas. If you've been looking for a business that doesn't require a lot of capital to start or a lot of tools to begin, this episode is for you because we're going to talk about seven ideas that you could start right away so that you can start producing income in your own side business.
I want to kick off today's episode with a quote from one of my favorite business philosophers, Jim Rohn. He said this: "The major key to your better future is you." Did you get that? The major key to your better future is you. That tells me that it's all about personal responsibility. I'm not going to depend on somebody else. The major key to my better future and to yours is us. I thought that you might find that encouraging as well. As we move into today's episode, you get to put that into practice.
Now, I know that there are a million and one ideas out there that you can get started with, and the Internet is full of business ideas. It's also full of business ideas that you don't want to get mixed up in. But here, I want to share seven low-cost business ideas that I believe you can get started with quickly and with little money and few tools so that you can make traction fast.
3:28
So let's go over seven low-cost business ideas that you can start from home.
Number one: voiceover artist. I love this. This is so cool. I feel like my wife, Jenny, would be perfect for this. In fact, we've talked about it. She has such an amazing voice, and when she reads stories and communicates, she does it so well. You could be a voiceover artist for so many different things. It's not a difficult niche to get started in, and it's something that people are looking for daily. You can use platforms like Fiverr and Upwork and even others to get started. Obviously, you can and should have your own website so that you can promote your services and get clients, but you could do very well as a voiceover artist.
Now, maybe you're saying, "Justin, I've heard about a voiceover artist, but what do they do?" Well, they basically talk into a microphone, like what I'm doing right now. Somebody may need someone to do an introduction for their podcast. They will hire somebody, maybe even script it out so that they could read it, and then they will put together that voiceover. They will speak out the script. Maybe they will do that with background music. They'll do some editing afterwards and prepare that for the client. There are many ways and applications for a voiceover artist. You hear it all the time. You hear it on the radio, you perhaps see a commercial, and you're seeing some children playing on a playground and somebody is talking about a product or talking about a service. That's a voiceover artist. They are using their voice in a way to produce or promote something or someone.
5:04
It's a great opportunity to get into today. I suggested this to somebody a couple of years ago. In fact, if I think about it now, it's been nearly five years ago. His name is James. A light bulb just went off in his head. He started. He just put himself out there. He got the tools that he needed. He made a website, put himself on Fiverr, and he started doing just low-cost business gigs, and he just built, built, built, and built. He's still doing it today, now doing larger jobs and having larger clients. You just do that. You start small and you grow, but you can do this very easily.
So what tools do you need? Well, you really don't need a whole lot. You need a computer, you need recording software, a microphone, and you also need a quiet place. It doesn't do too well when you're trying to record something for a client, but the kids are fighting in the background. That doesn't work out too well unless it's something about parenting, right? But it's something that you could do very easily. You could use some built-in software that comes with your MacBook. You can use GarageBand. You could use Audacity. These are recording software that you can use to get started.
Number two: graphic design. Now, this is a very, very broad field, but it's a field that I work in, and it's something I know a lot about, so I'm going to mention it. There's a lot to do in graphic design, whether we're talking about print materials or whether we're talking about websites or digital assets, branding, or logos. There's a lot of things that fall under graphic design. It could be creating printables that you're selling on Etsy. You can begin an Etsy store. Listen, it's not too late for that. I know that Etsy is huge, and there's a lot of competition. But no matter what, if you start something and you get great at it and you stay consistent, you will experience success.
8:14
Another thing you can do is freelance graphic design. Whether it's for a website, let me give you a perfect example. I recently was talking to a young lady who is doing a mockup for a website for our agency. So we hired her. We gave her all the criteria that she needed and all the assets that she needed. And she is designing a mockup of a website for us so that we can then code it and build it. It's something that she's likely doing from home, and she's designing within a specific type of software that we required. She was able to create this for us and has done a phenomenal job. This is something that you can do as well.
So whether you want to create something that is printed, you want to do business cards, letterheads, maybe you want to do magazine advertisements - those are big in our area because it's a very tourist-oriented area - you can create digital assets. Like I mentioned, logos. You can do... I'm trying to think of some of the things that I used to do. Flyers. You could do a lot of logos, flyers. You could do magazines. You could do pamphlets, you can do postcards, you can do banners. There are so many opportunities out there.
9:51
I used to literally sit in my bedroom and design things for clients all over the country, and it was easy. It was easy. You just do what they want you to do, and you just sit there and design the work. They say, "Hey, I like this." They say, "I don't like this." So you make a revision, and you can simply do that from home. It doesn't require a whole lot of tools. Obviously, you need a computer. You need design software like maybe Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop. There are different options out there that you can use for design, but you can do that from home. Create a website, start talking to people, letting them know you're available. Word of mouth works like a charm, especially when it comes to graphic design, and you can get started doing this fast.
Now, if you don't have a design background, that is, you haven't gone to school for art, you haven't taken any classes, there's plenty of online material that you can learn from. You can even go on YouTube and you can learn how to do a logo that's outstanding. But you can go to places like Skillshare, you can go to places like Coursera, you can go to so many places where you can learn design and you can offer these services. It's a low-cost business idea that's going to yield results.
11:33
All right, so we've covered voiceover artist and graphic design. Number three: transcription services. Now, there are a lot of people out there, people like me, that need somebody to transcribe their audio. Maybe it comes from a podcast, maybe it comes from a video, maybe it comes from other audio products. Years ago, there used to be a lot of things done by telephone. You would have teleconferences. Believe it or not, there's a lot of people out there that still have a ton of audio material like that that could be transcribed and used. People need people to transcribe their audio.
There are services out there that do it automatically, and I've tried some, but they don't always work the greatest. Some people prefer to work with people. That way, they can make adjustments, whether it's in formatting or maybe in leaving certain parts out, whatever it may be. There's some flexibility when you get to work with a person versus trying to work with some AI service. But there are people that could use somebody who is great at listening and transcribing.
This was huge in the medical field, right? Having somebody that could type so many words per minute, and they just bang out all of the data that they need to do for these documents. Well, we need that now. Creators need those who are willing to transcribe the audio. If you're a great typist, and you can touch type like nobody else, then people need your services. Again, this is another low-cost business idea that you can get started with quickly. You can get started by offering your services on these same platforms you hear me talk about, like Upwork, and Freelancer.com is another one, or even Fiverr. Fiverr used to be, well, like it sounds, it used to be five bucks, and you get this gig. You have to be careful because some of the things on there, some of the quality of the work isn't the greatest, but that'll just help you stand out all the more.
14:56
Those platforms have really come along over the years, and they offer a lot of great services for creators. So if you're a typist and you love doing that thing, consider transcription for people, whether it's audio, whether it's transcribing even a book or an e-book, whatever it may be. It's something that you can get started with. Now, what do you need? Well, you need, obviously, your computer, you need a word processor, whether you want to use Word or Pages, which is an Apple product, and then maybe an optional transcription service that is audio or AI that you can actually employ yourself, but then you can polish it for your client.
So there's another low-cost business idea. Let's move into another: coaching. Coaching is still an important field. I know that some people are on the fence about it and they wonder, "Hey, is coaching really legitimate or is it not?" Well, it is, but there are some people who are not. The truth is, you can be a coach that people hire so that they can have access to your expertise or they can have access to your listening skills and your questioning skills so that they can overcome obstacles in their life and they can achieve the goals that they want.
16:42
My wife and I are currently going through coaching. We have a coach that works with both of us, and it's fantastic. It's helping us grow and it's helping us learn. I also, in turn, provide coaching. It's a way to help people get through all of the roadblocks, get through those obstacles, ask questions from perspectives that aren't considered so that they can begin to develop new ideas and goals and how to achieve those goals, and you can become a coach.
Now, you can do this in many ways. There are certified programs that you can go through. There are other programs that aren't certified. There is not an overall governing certification program for coaching. Now, the International Coaching Federation is like the golden standard for coaching when it comes to technical coaching. But then there are other types of coaching that fall more into consulting. And when you start getting into the realm of coaching that falls in the consulting side, you certainly don't need to have a certification for that, but you do need to have some experience and be able to take somebody further.
Well, if you know me, then you know that I love talking about business ideas. So talking about these low-cost business ideas that can help you get started fast. We live in such an amazing day in which we can do this.
18:19
Before we continue, I want to tell you about a resource at sidebusinessschool.com. There you can go and you can download the Quick Start Side Business Guide, and that's going to help you think through the important aspects of starting your side business. You're busy, you have a limited amount of time, and you need to learn, and just like I have to learn, to focus on what really matters. I'm going to encourage you to go there, sidebusinessschool.com, and just simply download that free guide, the Quick Start Side Business Guide, and that'll help you get started faster.
All right, moving on to number five. I believe we're on number five. Number five is blog writing. Yes, blog writing is still relevant and for so many reasons. It's extremely important in today's economy. And if you have experience in writing and you're good with grammar, and you're the person that has been called the Grammar Police, hey, you are the perfect blog writer or the perfect editor, and people need your services.
19:54
You can go through what we write and you can make it sound great. Actually, in the agency that I work with, we actually hire out for blog writing. Now, I'm not encouraging a bunch of inquiries. We already have selected writers that we use. But there are other agencies and there are individuals out there who are looking for people like you who love to write, who are great with grammar, and can produce content for them simply because they don't have the time to do so themselves, or they may not be great at doing it themselves, but they need the content. They need the blog content on the website, whether it's for SEO value, whether it's just to share the fact that they know what they're talking about in their particular topic, but they need somebody who is willing to write about their topic.
And you could even be a ghost writer. Maybe somebody would hire you to simply write their book. They have an idea, they need a writer. But this is a low-cost business idea, and if you love to write, it's a great way to get started. Some of the tools you'll need simply are your computer and your word processor. Again, you're talking about Word, you're talking about Pages, and maybe you want to promote yourself on Upwork or Fiverr. Create your own website. Start telling people, word of mouth, that you're available for these writing services, that you will write a blog, and you can decide how you want to package your writing.
21:27
All right, moving on to the next one: Podcast Editor. Well, here is something that is close to my heart because I'm searching. Podcast editing takes quite a bit of time. It's one thing to talk into a microphone, but it's a whole another thing to edit what has been done. And to also, again, you have music, you have your overlaying tracks, and you're removing and you're adding. There's a lot to editing. And podcast editing is a field that is exploding. And people need podcast editors, and they're willing to pay for it. They're happy to pay for it.
If you think about it, I think one of... If I remember correctly, if I have about a 30-minute podcast episode, and I get a bit nitpicky, I can be almost a perfectionist to a fault. I could just spend three to four hours editing a half an hour episode, and that's just too much. I mean, you know what it's like. You've got kids, you've got commitments, you have activities, you have a full-time career. And so what do we do? We look for somebody who is willing to do the podcast editing for us to help it sound great, to remove the verbal mistakes, and it'll save hours of time each week, which is extremely valuable.
23:11
So that is another low-cost business idea. Get started with your computer, some editing software, sound software like Audacity, or GarageBand, or Logic Pro. And you could offer those services on the same platforms, Upwork, Fiverr, your own website, word of mouth, do whatever it takes to get started, but it's a low-cost business idea.
All right. Now, moving on to the next one, tutoring. This is extremely important as well today. We all know that the world has changed. School has changed. We have kids that are in school two days a week, three days a week, and then they're home the other days of the week. Sometimes they struggle. Sometimes they need some extra help. The truth is, even if you're in school five days a week, you still may need some help. Kids need tutors.
24:51
And what I love about this is that we live in a time where it's become much easier. So you can simply do it through your iPad, right? You can have your laptop, you can have your iPad, you can share your screen, you could talk via Zoom. There are so many ways that you could tutor online and you could do it from your own home, and you could help a student learn the concepts that they're struggling with. You can encourage them. You can come alongside them and you can tell them, "Hey, you can do this." Tell them, say, "Hey, I used to struggle with this, too, and I was able to overcome and master it. Now, you can, too."
There are so many ways that you can offer hope in this area of tutoring, and it doesn't take much to get started. You can, again, start with word of mouth, get your website up. You can promote yourself on those freelance platforms and you can get started today. What are you good at? Are you good at math? Well, there's a lot of students out there who need help with math, and parents are happy to pay for the help.
26:16
They care for their kids, they care for their education, and they're happy to pay you to help them. So if that's you, if you have a particular area that you care about, English, math, whatever it may be, consider online tutoring.
All right. Next on the list is Website Developer. Now, I love this because boy, this is just such an open opportunity for so many people. I mean, my son, one of my sons, Joshua, he's 14, and he just loves this stuff. I mean, he's learning Python and there's other languages. You can learn HTML, CSS. I mean, the list can go on and on and on. And you can learn how to be a developer right in your own home. And there's so many places where you can go to learn. I talked about Coursera earlier. That's a place where you can go and you can find a lot of free online material. You can go to Skillshare. You can go to even YouTube. There's, I think it's called W3Schools is another one. There's Khan Academy. There's so many places where you can go and you can learn to code and you can start that path to becoming a website developer.
27:50
And you can do that just like these other jobs that we have mentioned here, virtually from anywhere. And it's a low-cost business idea. The real investment is going to be your willingness to learn. And this is something that is sought after. We have one on staff, and there are agencies everywhere that are looking to either bring on developers that will work from home when they're available, or you can be a freelance developer. But that is something to consider. What do you need? Well, you need a computer and access to the internet, and you're good to go. And this is simply something that you have an opportunity to get started with.
Next, let's talk about an old-fashioned one, but it is not going away. Photography, right? Photography is not going anywhere soon. In fact, I think it's increasing, especially with the explosion of the web. We need better photos. We need better photographers. I know a lot of photographers, and their schedules are just booked out. I mean, if you learn how to do photography, you will be busy. Now, here's the key. It's more than just taking a picture. There's a lot of people out there that will promote themselves as photographers, which is fine, and they'll take a picture.
29:27
But here's the key. You also need to know editing. You need to know what to do after you have the picture. I remember several years ago, we had an amateur photographer take some family pictures. And one of the things that she didn't realize in the setting is there was this unsightly trash can in the background. I mean, and that's the last thing you want in a family picture is a trash can, and that could be removed with proper editing and could have been a beautiful picture. So if you are interested in photography, and you want to get into that field, also learn how to do the editing in Adobe Photoshop, and there's some other tools out there that could be available for photographers.
But photography is a hot business to get into. Obviously, you can do weddings, you can do birthdays, you can do all kinds of celebrations and family pictures. And it's something that people are always looking after. In fact, we're looking for one ourselves. We're looking for a family photographer for this spring. So if that is something that you're looking to get into, it's something that is definitely wide open.
31:03
Depending on how you want to get started, I know we're talking about low-cost business ideas here. Cameras range from inexpensive to uber expensive. But if you're just getting started, just start with something. Maybe you could find a used DSLR, or maybe you could borrow one from somebody just to get started, learn how to use Photoshop or use another editing program, and just start organically, start slow. And again, you can use these platforms to promote your services. You have your website, you get that up, and then Upwork or Fiverr or some of these other places, you can do that.
So here's a list of low-cost business ideas. I mean, think about it. Think about what we just ran through. I mean, I'm going to go through the list here. I mean, we're talking about voiceover artist, graphic design, transcription services, coaching, blog writing, podcast editing, tutoring, website development, photography. And there are people that are making literally six figures or more in these niches, and it doesn't take a whole lot to get started.
Now, here's what it is going to take. It's going to take some time. It's going to take some work. It's going to take some willingness to be teachable. But if you're willing to stick with it, then you can do this. And I look forward to future podcast episodes where we can talk about more business ideas where you can get started with very little resources and turn it into something that you love, turn it into a meaningful and profitable side business.
Now, before I go today, I want to remind you of the quote that we started with, and that is, "The major key to your better future is you." So I just gave you a quick list of low-cost business ideas. And if you need an idea, there's a few to choose from. The question is, what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do with it? Because you are the key to a better future.
Well, again, I want to thank you for joining me today. And if you haven't done so yet, I want to encourage you to please subscribe to the show. And if you would be so kind, please leave a review, because when you do so, you're telling others, "Hey, this show is worth listening to," and I would appreciate that. Thanks for joining me today, and I will talk to you again next week.